The times., 1887-12-16

Stealing M n Means OF Livs1lhood Tbs
Amateur Kleptomaniac.

ivOe Onc-UHtN uI tne people CauEOJ
sareptitiously appropriating our goods
are ever brought to justice" said the
superintendent Of large dry goods es-
Enlistment. "We have our own private
detectives, some Of whom are women. to
protect our property, but shoplifting is SO
prevalent that not q day passes without
the detection of one or more thieves. The
professional thieves, adroit as they are,
give us less trouble than the new hands.
All the notorious shoplifters are well
known to our detectives, and the mo-
ment one shows her face in the doorway
she is warned away. AS soon us pro-
fpssional finds herself spotted she takes to
the road and works the principal cities in
regular order. 1t takes her several
months TO work the circuit, at the end of
which time she can start All over again
without much fear of being recognized.
The expert shoplifter doesn resort to dis
gnises as much as the unintiated would
suppose. She takes a pride in her pro-
fession and looks upon stealing merely as
means of livelihood. She is courageous
to the extreme and steals with an audaci
ty that is startling. When detected she
becomes dogged, acts with the indiffer-
ence of a woman of the world, looks
upon the matter as one of the fortunes Of
war and never tries to crawl out of the
HIDE by adding lie to her other crime.
here is some satisfaction in outwitting a
foe like this, whose life is tinged with ro-
nance. and who will wage as fair war;
fare against you as the dishonesty of her
practices will admit.
''On the other hand, the amateur thief
or kieptomaniac, or whatever you like to
cal her, will resort to the meanest and
most contemplate plans to steal your
goods. If detected in the act, she will
Vafy yon. say she is insulted, threaten
to sue, and lie like a Digger Indian.
HERE is not person on earth so dear-a
ffther, mother, brother or q sister
whom she would not betray in order to
secure immunity for herself. Often these
new hands travel in pairs. When caught
they disgust you with human nature by
their mutual recriminations.
"As for the excuses offered by shop
lifters when brought to bay most of them
lave become SO threadbare as to be
known as chestnuts. Once in while an
Ingenious crook will spring a new fake
story on us, some of which would be
Convincing enough if it wasn't for the
t4ngible evidence. have kept a record
Of all these excuses, and will enumerate
afew Of the common and curious ones.
"First, there is the fashionably dressed
woman. well connected and of undoubted
respectability. Pilfering with her is, no
doubt, more of o disease than a crime.
She never steals anything very valuable,
IL. l.. 4 l. I
her fancy, such as a tape measure, a
spool of cotton, match safe, an odd
glove, single garter, etc. You will
notice that some of these things are of no
possible use or value to her. AS far as
possible we avoid bringing her failing to
lfer notice. The trifies she has stolen are
added to her bill and she pays it without
being conscious of having been detected.
Sometimes the friends of this class of
shophfters will find out where she has
been shopping and return all the things
she brought homo to see if they have all
been paid for.
sThe richly dressed woman, who passes
as respectable, is the one who gives us
the most trouble. She always goes in
for a big haul, and haunts the lace and
silk counters. Her stealings are of such
magnitude, and her work is done in such
aSbungling manner, that she is sure to
be detected almost at once. When caught
and requested to step into tho examining
room she bursts out in loud and vulgar
remonstrance. After getting our goods
pack we generally have her locked up.
Then there is sure to be q hue and cry
about an outrage and that sort of thing
until she is tried and heavily fined.
There are always plenty of shyster law
yers tn induce her to bring suit for
damages against us on the whack up
plan. These vampires try to blackmail
us into compromising the suit, but we
know enough to remain firm.
GA very common type Of the shop
litter comes from the middle walk Of
life. She is generally a foolish woman
whose husbands salary is not large
enough to supply her with the finery she
lcmgs for, so she determines to steal it.
At first her pilferings are very small, but
In time she becomes emboldened by sue
cess and there is nothing too rich for her
to slip under her dress. When discov-
cred she is full Of excuses. She was just
taking the article over to the light, or
she wanted to buy something at another
counter and unconsciously keptit in her
hand, or she wished to obtain the opin-
ion of q friend whom she thought she
saw at the other end of the store, or the
thing got caught in her dress in some
unaccountable manner. A woman of
this kind is anxious to avoid publicity,
and as she is ready enough to pay the
full value of the article, we let her go
scot free, after the detectives have scru-
tinized her SO that she would be readily
recognized again.
''The child shoplifters arc hard to de-
tect. They are precious little tots, and
become wonderfully proficient in short
tirn3. As they are unable to secrete
many articles on their persons, they en-
ploy most of their time in picking the
sachels of tho shoppers. You would
think that little 10-year-old girl would
break down and confess everything upon
being arrested, but they remain perfectly
self possessed and 60 through the trying
ordeal of a searching examination with
the easy indifference Of professional.
These children are taught to steal by fc-
male Fagins, who confiscate everything
and vvhin then, numerically when thew